Families will get £205 a week to pay for childcare so parents can be trained to return to work.

The £75million programme announced last night will for three years help couples in England where one works and the other wants new skills to help them find a job.

The support for about 50,000 families will be worth up to £205 a week per child in London and £175 elsewhere.

Launching the Free Childcare for Training and Learning for Work scheme, Children's Secretary Ed Balls said: "We are committed to eradicating child poverty and have already lifted 600,000 children out of poverty. This programme will help families break out of the poverty trap.

"High-quality, affordable childcare is vitally important.

We are helping parents who would find it difficult to get financial help for care to gain the skills and the confidence they need to return to work."